Children Play Activity in Russia: Coexistence of the New and Traditional Types of Playing

The paper analyses some issues concerning with the specific of children play activity in modern Russia. The first one is the transformation of the playing behavior under the influence of changing mechanisms of socialization. The second one is the coexistence of new and traditional types of children playing. The theoretical grounds of the research are the classical and the modern social theories concerning with socialization, personality, identity, playing process (G.Mead, M.Mead, E.Ericson, M.Parten, J.Piaget, L.Vygotsky).

The paper deals with the content and structure of contemporary children play activity as a factor of forming and shaping child’s social behavior. The authors present the results of two empirical researches. There were conducted 300 formal interviews with children of 10-15 years old and the 15 in-depth interviews with mothers of pre-school children.

The questions of interview were focused on the different dimensions of play activity. Authors distinguish two main dimensions: the play as collective activity when a child plays with others and the play as individual activity, when a child plays alone. The paper emphasizes on the set of the most popular plays and games and the set of rare, not popular plays. The play in the family group is also analyzed. The in-depth interviews with mothers were aimed at the research of family factor, which influences the playing activity of pre-school children. The disappearing and new playing practices were defined.

It is found out that the modern children in Russia play outdoor group games much less in comparison with generation of their parents. The virtual reality becomes more and more important and influential even for pre-school children. However, traditional types of playing remain the most significant factors of socialization. Play activity forms children’s reality, helps them to understand the social world and rules, teaches them how to behave in different situations.